Chapter Seven Those Ancient Matters

When gripping the long sword and charging towards the ferocious and eerie monster, Gao Wen felt no tension, no hesitation, and no fear. If there was anything, it might be a slight sense of dizziness and unreality.

He still vividly remembered the moment when his plane crashed.

He still vividly remembered the tens of thousands of years hanging in the sky of this world.

He hadn't fully adapted to the sudden identity of Gao Wen Cecil.

But at this moment, he clenched an ancient family sword and pounced on a strange creature that could be a demon or undead without any nervousness.

Bang!

A tremendous impact surged from the blade, and all distracting thoughts vanished in an instant.

Reacting almost instinctively, Gao Wen avoided the monster's sweeping claws. He twisted his upper body almost half a turn, and the swinging blade left a trail of light in the air, fiercely hacking towards the creature's shoulder. Simultaneously, as the blade descended, he endeavored to harness the power within this body and guide it to the long sword in his hand.

Under the stimulation of power, a faint red glow blossomed at the base of the sword blade. It rapidly spread like flames along the blade, distorting the surrounding air in the searing heat.

The three-meter-tall monster, sensing the threat from the high-temperature blade, unexpectedly tilted backward with agility completely inconsistent with its massive size. Gao Wen's slashing attack narrowly missed.

Experiencing the release of this seemingly magical supernatural power for the first time with his own hands, Gao Wen couldn't help but feel a moment of excitement and exhilaration. Perhaps it was this surge of excitement that prevented him from controlling the rhythm of his first attack well, but soon he adjusted his mindset and re-infused power into the long sword.

The knowledge and skills from Gao Wen Cecil's memories were indeed callable. This body hadn't deteriorated to the point of being powerless. Although he didn't know how much strength he could unleash, at this moment, Gao Wen gained a considerable amount of confidence.

He immersed himself in the battle, swiftly converting the combat experience in his mind that didn't belong to him into usable strength for himself.

On the other side, Byron was already in a fierce struggle.

As one of the top knights serving the Cecil family, he had accumulated extraordinary combat experience in battles even before pledging allegiance to the Cecil family. However, during the recent monster attack on the castle, he had exhausted too much energy, and the insidious magic of the monsters further diminished his combat capabilities. Despite being a top-tier knight, his combat strength was currently only about forty to fifty percent.

Facing the monster's consecutive attacks, he could only tightly grip the long sword to maintain his defense. While conserving energy as much as possible, he diligently sought the enemy's weaknesses.

Rebecca gathered magical power, and a fiery ball, the size of a head, flew out from the tip of her staff. It collided fiercely in the air with the shadow arrows from the distant casting monster, causing a earth-shattering explosion. She took a breath and immediately noticed the perilous situation Byron was in. She shouted loudly to the soldiers beside her, "You three, go help Byron!"

One soldier hesitated, "But, my lord..."

Rebecca, concentrating on conjuring a new fireball spell, shouted, "We're fine here for now. But if Byron falls, it's over! As your lord, I command you to go!"

The three soldiers had no choice but to obey, joining forces with Knight Byron to confront the terrifying monster.

Gao Wen gradually immersed himself in the battle. The memories and experiences that didn't belong to him were rapidly transforming into something he could use, enhancing his control over this new body. This process brought him a great sense of accomplishment. When he slightly woke up from this immersive state, he found that the monster in front of him had been suppressed by his attacks.

The distorted body, resembling "mud," was not invulnerable. It got injured when slashed, and it could die with enough strikes. Despite their immense strength and size advantage, as long as the right methods were applied, human bodies could still eliminate them.

This was the experience left behind seven hundred years ago.

The monster's claws swept over his head, Gao Wen lowered his body, and with a reverse grip, he thrust the long sword into the creature's thigh. The latter finally let out a muddy and muffled roar, uncontrollably tilting to one side. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Gao Wen shouted to Byron, "Attack their abdomen and lower limbs, ignore the chest. These creatures have no hearts!"

Then, capitalizing on his opponent's loss of balance, Gao Wen twisted his body to the side and swung the sword towards the creature's waist. "Apart from the abdomen, their other weak point is at the back! The lower back!"

Listening to the guidance from the ancestors of the Cecil family, Byron's spirits were lifted. With the coordination of three soldiers, he quickly restrained the monster's movements. Paying the price of his shoulder armor being pierced by claws, Byron directly slipped through the opponent's crotch and delivered a fatal strike from behind.

Right before Byron dealt with the enemy, the monster in front of Gao Wen also collapsed heavily.

After dealing with the enemies, Gao Wen immediately looked towards the monster that was engaged in a duel with Rebecca's shadow arrows and fiery balls in the distance. However, just as he was about to charge straight towards it, the monster suddenly let out a shrill roar and spasmodically fell to the ground.

Amber's figure appeared behind the monster, with a poisoned steel dagger in each hand. "Stabbing in the flower, that's my expertise."

Rebecca put down her staff, her cheeks slightly flushed from consecutive spellcasting. She took a couple of breaths to steady herself, then earnestly corrected, "Ancestor said it was the lower back, not the flower."

Amber swiftly twirled the daggers in her hands two times, and the daggers disappeared without a trace. She crossed over the monster's corpse, walking towards them while pursing her lips. "Tch, no sense of humor at all."

After the monsters died, they rapidly disintegrated. The sludge-like substance that flowed and surged on their bodies ceased first, gradually drying up and solidifying. Numerous fine cracks appeared as the corrupted "flesh" decayed, and with the rapid decay of these corrupted "flesh" parts, they transformed into massive, twisted, blood-red skeletons.

Gao Wen stood beside the monster he had killed, lowering his head to watch this process. As if speaking to himself, he said, "So, these are the things that attacked the Cecil domain..."

Heti looked at him curiously, "Ancestor, do you know the origin of these monsters?"

Gao Wen had already demonstrated a deep understanding of these monsters in the previous battles and even guided Byron on how to counter them. It was something he couldn't hide, and he had no intention of doing so.

"Staying here might encounter them again. Let's go through the secret passage. There's something in the passage that suppresses these monsters; they won't easily enter," Gao Wen said as he walked forward, "I can tell you the details on the way."

After entering the ancient underground passage and traveling for a while, Gao Wen broke the silence, "

I did indeed deal with them back then—actually, we mainly dealt with those things. You should be aware of the collapse of the Tudor Empire and the history of the Second Exploration, right?"

"Of course, the history is well known." Rebecca nodded, as this history was part of her education as a noble. "Over seven hundred years ago, the Loren continent had only one human kingdom, the Tudor Empire, situated at the center of the continent. Historically, it was the most powerful empire, even making the Silver Empire in the south of the continent hesitate to oppose it easily. However, turmoil in the Ether Sea surrounding this world caused a major catastrophe on the Loren continent, triggering a disaster known as the 'Dark Mana Tide.' The epicenter of the disaster was in the heartland of the Tudor Empire—almost overnight, the capital and a third of the country were engulfed by the mana tide and disintegrated due to the surging elemental forces..."

"Not almost overnight, in fact, the process lasted for almost a month," Gao Wen interrupted, then gestured for her to continue. "But the result was similar. Keep going."

"Ah... right," Rebecca blushed as if being corrected by a parent during homework check. "After that, the mana tide in Tudor Empire's heartland continued to spread in all directions, eventually completely destroying the entire country. That was the collapse of the Tudor Empire. Afterward, with the gradual calming of the Ether Sea and the diminishing power of the mana tide, the survivors of Tudor had to rebuild their civilization. However, since the central region of the continent had become uninhabitable, they, led by a group of pioneers, left the ruins of the empire and embarked on the Second Exploration in four directions—east, south, west, and north. This period is known as the Second Exploration. You, Ancestor, were one of the most famous knights during that time."

"Well, you've got a good grasp of history," Gao Wen complimented casually. "You should also know that even though the mana tide subsided, the ruins of the Tudor Empire were still infested with many monsters born from the mana tide. Those creatures were one of the major threats faced by humanity during the early stages of the Second Exploration."

Heti widened her eyes. "Are you saying..."

"That's right. Those I fought with back then were these things," Gao Wen sighed. "They were born from the mana tide, resembling the outlines of humans but definitely not human. After the collapse of the Tudor Empire, a large number of such monsters emerged from the heartland of the empire, continuously spreading in all directions. They relentlessly pursued the survivors, turning the first half of the Second Exploration into more of a flight than an exploration. Even after we later escaped the ruins of the empire and established new nations on the edges of the continent, those monsters didn't stop. They kept pouring from the direction of the empire's ruins, frequently assaulting the civilized world's defenses... I practically dealt with them every day in the first ten years after the founding of the Ansu Principality."

Rebecca, still absorbing the ancient and legendary stories, asked, "After the founding of Ansu, did those monsters no longer appear?"

Gao Wen smiled, reaching out to pat the girl's head, revealing a gentle expression. "Silly child, your ancestors died after that..."

Rebecca: "..."